One of the major tasks that must be performed in the preparation of graphic materials for printed media is the sizing of graphic elements such as photographs, diagrams and the like. Because these graphic elements are usually created without regard to the actual size in which they will appear in the media, graphic production artists must virtually always determine a proportioning factor, expressed as a percentage, as instructions for enlarging or reducing the original element to fit properly in the allocated space in the finished piece. For example, if the desired image size is twice as large as the original, the production artist instructs the printer to "shoot the artwork to 200%." If the desired size is 3/4 that of the original, the instructed size will be 75%, and so on.